Method and apparatus for sterilizing the teat-cup set of alpha milking machine



Sept. 29, 1925. 1,555,031

L. P. SHARPL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR S RILI G THE TEAT CUP SET OF A MILKI MA NE Filed Jan.

Patented Sept. "29, 1925.

UNITED STATES" 1,555,031 PATENT OFFICE;

LAURENCE P. SHABPLES, F WEST CHESTER, ENNBYLVANI-A.

Inmo ann Arrm'rus roasrna-Imzme 'ma Tau-our sar or A ,nimma Macmn. Y

Application nl ed January 12, 1988. lSerial No. 612,305.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known f that I, LAURENCE I. ,Snam-LES, a citizen of the United States residing at West Chester, in the county oy 5 Chester, State of Pennsylvania, have in-` vented certain new? and useful Improvements in Methods and Apparatus for Sterilizing the Tent-Cup Set of a Milking Machine, of which theV following is a de- 19 scription, reference being had to the accompanying drawin and to the figures of reference marked t ereon.

The invention relates to new anduseful improvements in a method of cleansing and sterilizing the teat cup set of a milking machine, and the apparatus for carrying out the same.

An object of the invention'is to provide a method and apparatus of cleansing and 20 sterilizing `the teat cup set of a milking machine wherein said teat cup set is so positioned that a-solvent and the bactericide can be retained therein for a period' of time without the possibility of trapping any air in the tube leading to the teat cups, so that all of the milk contacted parts willy be subjected-to the cleansing and sterilizingaction of the fluid contained therein.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatusfoi` carryy ing out the same wherein the cleansmg and sterilizing fluid used in connection with the teat cup set is caused to cover all yof the as would be necessary for submerging the.

entire teat cup set.

i A still further object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for carrying out the same whereln the iluld containing the solvent and bactericlde will not lcome in contact with the outside of the teat cup set thus preventing reaction with the outside metal parts and organic matter.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed. I In the drawings which show one form of apparatus for carrying out the invention: Figure 1 is a perspective view showin devices for supporting the teat cup set an for causing the cleansing and sterilizlng Huid to pass into the teat cup set, and in dotted lines, the position of the parts when' the iiuid is drained therefrom;

milk contacted parts of the teat cup set- Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the teat cupsfand Fig. 3`shows a slight modified form of apparatus wherein means is provided for causing the cleansingA and sterilizing fluid to'extend over the top of the lip at the outer end of the teat cup.

My invention lis directed broadly to a. method of cleansing and sterilizing the teat cup set lof a milking machine, and by the teat' cup set it is understood I mean the teat cups, the claw and the rubber tubing lead- 1n to the milk can.

e usual method of cleansing the teat cup set is to -ilush the teat cups with plain 'water, or in rare cases, with a washing soda solution in an effort torinse out the solid matter, after which the teat cups are put into a bactericide until the next milkmg. This method is inelcient for the reason that neither the water nor the washing soda solution flushes outV the dirt thoroughly. Around the teat cups there are crevioes vwhere dirt, solid matter and casein lodge,

and mixed with them, and underneath them large quantities of'bacteria will be found unless great care is used. Places like these need more washing than any other art of a milking machine, or bacteria wil 'accumulate in millions and contaminate the milk. The present method of washing out only takes the top off and' does not reach into the crevices. Furthermore, by this present method of placing the teat cups in the bactericide, air is often trapped in the tube and this prevents the bactericide from making contact with the interior of the tube' throughoutgtheregion where the air trapped exists.

My present method consists first in so positioningthe teat cup set that a cleansing fluid may be retained therein for any desired length of time, and so that said fluid must make contact with all'the interior parts in the teat'cup set which are subiected'100 stantially on the same level, and a the connected. This air plpe 10 end of the tube which is detached from the milk can on the same level, and then the tube,- together with the teat cups, are filled with the cleansin and sterilizing solvent. The parts are al owed to remain in this 'tion until again desired to use for milkmg. By letting'the solvent and bactericide together stand in ythe teat cups for this long riod of time, the solvent will loosen the so id matter from the surfaces to which it adheres, or any -small crevices, and while the solid matter is loose the bactericide can get in under it and kill the bacteria. The solvent of course, does not entirely d1ssolve the solidmatter any more than soap dissolves all the dirt on your hands. The solvent does, however, loosen the solid matter fromV 'the surface to which it clings, dissolves a part of it, and allows the bactericide to get in its effective work.. If the solvent were used first and then removed, the solid matter auld again cling to the surfaces and the bactercide could not act. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the method of using washing soda and bactericide in series as referred to above, does not attain proper efficiency. My improved method will possibly be better understood by reference to the apparatus shown in the drawings, which is m referred way of carrying out the metho In the drawings, the teat cups are indicated at 1. These are connected to the usual claw 2 from which leads a tube 3 for conveying the milk to the can. In Fig. 2 of the drawings, I have shown an enlarged view of one form of teat cup, which includes an outer cylinder 4, an inner flexible member 5 connected to the cylinder 4 at the outer end by means of a cone-shaped ring 6, which ilex1ble member 5 is clamped between the lower end of the cylinder 4 and a coneshaped nip le 7. A threaded nut 8 which engages a t read on the stem of the nipple 7 clamps the arts together. A tube 11 is connected to tlie stem of the nipple 7 and this tube is connected at its ,ot er end to the claw 2. It is understood, of course, that there is a tube 11 for each teat cu Extendingefrom one side of the cylin er 4 is a tube 9 4to which an air pressure pipe 10 is as been omitted from Fig. 1 ofthe drawings so as not to confuse the drawing. The milk, of course, does not make contact with the tube 10 and it vis not necessary to sterilize the interior of the same. This teat cu set is of the usual2 construction and furt er de- ,scriptionl thereof is not thought necessary.

It will be noted that there are crevices about the connected parts of the teat cup where dirt, solid mattery and casein lod e, and these are the arts which it is especially difficult to proper y cleanse and ster1lize.

is adapted to receive the teat. This cu My apparatus includesa bracket 12 which may be secured to the wall at any convenient place by screws orbolts which pass through suitable openings 13. In the horizontal portion of the bracket there are slots 14, one for each teat cu and these slots are prefer ably of such width as to engage underneath the extreme tapered end of the teat cup and sup rt the 'same as clearl shown in Fig. 1 o the drawing. When t e teat cups are placed in the bracket the upper ends of the same are on the same horizontal level. My apparatus also includes a container herein shown in the form of a wide mouth glass bottle. In said bottle is a cork 16 havmg a tube 17 leading therethrough to which the'tube 3 may be connected. There is also a vent pipe 18 extending from the cork which lea s to a point near the bottom of the bottle. The bottle is provided witha belt strap 19 to which is attached a supportin strap 20. This supportingl strap has a oop 21 formed therein, and the free end` thereof is ada ted to ordinary belt uckle. e loo can be placed over a nail or other suitablia support 23 and thus the bottle supported in inverted position. The bottle may have a collar or ass through an ange formed therein underneath which the belt' extends so that the bottle will not slip out of the belt. In this bottle is placed the cleansing and sterilizing fluid.

This cleansing and'v sterilizing fluid may consist of washing soda or some other form of cleansing fluid and a chloramine or any other form of bactericide. The two are mixed and operate simultaneously to loosen and dissolve the solid matter and to thor-- sterilize the parts of the milk conportions on the interior of the teat set.

he bottle is placed on a nail in inverted position as shown in Fig. 1 and the bott-le is adjusted so that the fluid will pass into the tube 3 and rise in the teat cups tothe point of overflowinv so that the teat cups will be completely fi led with the fluid. The teat cup set is allowed to remain in this position until it is desired to use the same again. So it is that the teat cu set may be -subjected. to the action of the c eansing and sterilizing fluid for a period of approximately twentytwo hours out of twenty-four. -When it is desired to use the teat cup set, the bottle is removed from the nail and laced in the dotted line position shown in ig. 1, where the fluid will all run back 'into the bottle thus em tying the teat cup set and reserving the uld for further use. It will noted that the teat cup set is positioned so as to reoughl tactedy tainthe cleansing lluid without any possible that the extreme outer edge of the teat cup will be submerged, thoroughly cleansed and sterilized.

It will be understood, of course, that other forms of apparatus may be used for carrying out the invention; that the two essential features of the invention consist, on the one hand, in the simultaneous use of the cleans-v ing fluid and sterilizng fluid, and onl the other hand, the positioning of the teat cup set so as to insure that all of the interior arts are caused to be subjected to the cleansing and sterilizing fluid.

It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of Vthe parts may be made without departin from the spirit of the invention as set fort in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. The combination of means for holding i the teat cup set with the open ends of the teat cups uppermost and on substantially the same level, a liquid container adapted to be connected to the tube of a teat cup set and means for supporting said Acontainer w ereby the fluid in the container can low into and 'cover all the interior parts of the teat cup set and be retained in said teat cu set.

2. The combination` of means for holding the teat cup set with the open ends of the teat cups uppermostand on substantially the same level, a liquid container adapted to be connected to the tube of a teat eup set, means for supporting said container whereby the fluid in the container can iiow into and cover all theinterior parts of the teat cu set and be retained in said teat cup set, sai container being adapted to be lowered from its support so that the fluid in the teat cup set will run back int-o the container empt ing the same. A

3. The combination of means for sup orting the teat cups of a teat cup set wit th'e open ends uppermost and on substantially the same level, a flexible sleeve adapted tobe attached to each teat cup and extend beyond the end-thereof, a container adapted to be attached to the tube' of the teat cup set, and means for supporting said container whereby a cleansing and sterilizing fluid contained therein may be caused to flow into said teat cup set and above the top of th teat cups into said flexible sleeves and retained therem for -a period of time.

In testimon whereof I aix my sinature.

LARENC P. SHARP Es. 

